The Madras High Court Bench here on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation petition filed by an art and literary association to declare as null and void an agreement entered between Tamil novel Madhorubhagan’s author Perumal Murugan and a group of religious and caste outfits at the office of the Namakkal District Revenue Officer on January 12.
The counsel for the petitioner, Tamil Nadu Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram represented by its secretary P. Anandakumar (52), decided to withdraw the PIL petition after a Division Bench of Justices S. Tamilvanan and V.S. Ravi was of the view that an association which was totally unconnected to the issue could not challenge the legality of an agreement duly signed by the book’s author.
In his affidavit, Mr. Anandakumar stated that the forum represented by him was one of the oldest literary associations established in 1961 at the instance of communist leader P. Jeevanandam.
Its prime objective was to promote Tamil literature and culture besides protecting the right to freedom of expression of artists and writers. Hailing Mr. Murugan as a scholar who had penned a number of stories, novel, poems and research articles portraying the life of people in Kongu region, the petitioner said that Madhorubhagan published in December 2010 was a work of fiction that depicts the anxiety, mental agony and humiliation suffered by an issueless couple about a century ago.
“After four years of publication of the novel, vested interests and communal organisations whipped up religious sentiments and created an artificial and illegal agitation. The district administration and the police succumbed to the demand of the fundamentalists and the author was threatened and forced to sign the illegal agreement,” he added.
The agreement stated that Mr. Murugan would withdraw all unsold copies of the novel and extend an unconditional apology for supposedly hurting religious sentiments.
